


Matter Or Not - Season 1 - Uncovered World

by AbsoluteSonic72



Series: Matter Or Not Series [1]
Category: Matter Or Not
Genre: Battle, Explanations, Gen, Original work - Freeform, Reality, criminal activity, real life depiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29979378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsoluteSonic72/pseuds/AbsoluteSonic72
Summary: What happens when realistic characters face unreal dangers? How would you react?This story is about a group of realistic teens surviving unexpected, unreal and unusual dangers.From gang members to superreal forces, this battle is a dangerous situation.Not about the drama, or the fights or even the dumb underdeveloped jokes. Its about the result.The result of all of their battles and efforts. Will it be worth it?Will it Matter or Not?That is where this story comes from.By AbsoluteSonic72 and non-Ao3 account Co-writer Rapizer.
Series: Matter Or Not Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205117
Kudos: 1





	1. Open Doors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [all of my friends](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=all+of+my+friends).



The sight of the mountain was imposing yet relaxing. The boy's eyes darted in several directions, looking for the easiest direction to take. He walked patiently around the bottom, taking in his surroundings. Then, he stopped walking and then put his backpack carefully on the ground. He double-checked everything was where it needed to be.

"Water, first aid kit, markers, knife, hike shoes..." he repeated the process a few times and after doing so; decided which path was the most convenient and took it.

He swung his backpack on his back, and walked carefully up the mountain. The boy jumped from rock to rock, fumbling in harmony with the moist grass that remained below him. Then he got to the steepest part of the mountain. He carefully hopped horizontally from surface to wet surface, until he found an opening.

After finding an opening, it was all up to timing. He felt his backpack get heavier, his arms desperate to give up. Then, his left hand slipped, his body tilted menacingly, the backpack slided down his back. He quickly grabbed it with his left hand, put it on his back and stood still.

He needed to rest his arms, and although he could not let go, not moving was bound to get him energy. Not much, but it was the energy he needed. Matthew continued to clamber up the mountain. It was still slippery from the pouring rain.

Luckily, he knew these rocky paths like the back of his hand. He prodded each rock lightly before stepping on it to make sure it was solid. Sweat dripped from his body, this wasn't good news for him, as it made gripping more challenging.

Despite this, the climb up was relatively peaceful. The light breeze tickled his face, and he swore he saw a fox slinking in the distant clumps of trees. He could feel that unpleasant anxiety of knowing he was so close to the top, but managed to stay calm.

Finally, Matthew reached the top, expertly swinging his heavy backpack on the ledge. It landed with a thud, though water splashed on his face, the ridge remained sturdy. He then heaved his weight up and brushed the rock dust off his hands.

Mathew stood atop the rock surface. Though he had seen the mountain top view many times, it was breath-taking nonetheless. His eyes wandered from the lush forest to the tiny streets of his home.

The cotton candy like clouds swirled from above, the weather hadn't been so pleasant in quite a while. A small moss-covered shack hid in the thicket of trees. The sight of it brought a smile to his face and a strange sense of safety resonated within him.

He slowly pushed the door open, taking in his surroundings. Finally, somewhere he could think, without the distractions of modern-day life. A constant uneasiness still stirred within him, but he pushed the feeling away.

The visible light from the outside now fizzled away, remaining on the outside of the shack. Matthew turned on a lightbulb, the light barely enough to properly take in his surroundings. He adjusted to the lightbulb's emission, and saw the silhouettes of the items surrounding him.

He pulled a cotton string, worn out by time, but still functional. It revealed a board, on which photos of newspapers and reports, sightings and convictions remained glued with white strings of cotton yarn rushing throughout the board.

Matthew was piecing something together, and he was very close.

He could feel it, it was there.It was there, he just needed to grasp it. . . .

Whilst this was happening, somewhere across town, through the forest, someone was just waking up from a heavy slumber.

The all too familiar beeping sound of Terrence's alarm roused him up from a heavy slumber. Streaks of sunlight penetrated the dusty windows of his and Brian's room.

He looked around groggily, he peered at his alarm clock sitting on his bedside table. It was six in the morning, and it was a school day.

Whatever, not like school mattered to him anyways.

He wrapped his blanket over his head to block out the sunlight. Just when he was about to doze off peacefully, a rough hand began shaking him violently.

"Wake up, dude. You're gonna be late. " Brian said.

Terrence let out a low moan of frustration.

He had just woken up when the sunlight blinded him. Terrence sat on his bed for a moment, trying to clear the drowsiness in his head.

Why did school have to exist? He asked himself that every day.

He took a quick glance at his alarm clock.

Ten minutes left before school start!?

He'd better hurry, he couldn't risk getting another detention. Terrence whizzed past Brian, who was busily smartening up his uniform. Rushing into the bathroom, and hastily rinsed his mouth.

Although not very hygienic, there wasn't time to brush his teeth. Then, with water still dripping from his mouth, he hurried back to his room and frantically fumbled for his uniform in his messy wardrobe.

Whilst haphazardly slipping on his clothes, he swung open his fridge.

His lunchbox was missing.

Crap, he thought, a feeling of worry swept over him.

Brian, who stood at the door, read his mind.

"Don't sweat it" he said, "I already put your lunch in your bag. "

He pointed at Terrence's bag, laying next to the front door.

"You better hurry, If you aren't ready by the next minute, I'm just gonna leave myself. "

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Terrence yelled frustratingly from across the other side of the room. Slamming the fridge shut, he ran to the front door where Brian stood impatiently.

He stuffed his sneakers on and swung his bag over his back. Both of them dashed out the door.

In his state of panic, Terrence nearly tripped going down the ladder. He glimpsed at his watch, five minutes left, he should be able to make it.

Several minutes after, a group of people wandered across the forest, carefully and silently, for their presence was unwanted.

"Hey, Boss. I think that's what we're looking for" said a man in a black outfit with brown sidelines in his shirt.

The "boss" turned around in a swift manner, taking in his surroundings. He pointed to the tree house inside of a circle which lacked vegetation. The man then moved his hands swiftly, and indicated the moving motion, the group started to surround the tree house.

The "boss" walked directly towards it, taking in the silhouettes of the vegetation surrounding him. He pick locked the door, which was easily opened.

He entered and looked briefly through the rooms, finding a book. He carefully looked at it, and then gave the stop command to his group.

The boss planted a device inside the book. It started blinking red, and he smiled upon seeing that.

A man went up to him.

"When do we use the Special Weapon?" he said quietly, to the boss.

"Its time to leave. " Said the boss. The men then left the tree house.

They walked through the streets unnoticed, and went to an unknown location where a man sitting on a chair was.

In one of the various houses on the streets, someone else was waking up in the morning sun.

Jaiden's alarm started beeping in its dull, monotonous tone. She squinted her eyes, the sun shone through the windows, illuminating her room in a brilliant light.

She stood up slowly, still groggy from sleep. Her alarm stood polished on her shelf to the left. It didn't seem to be beeping. Had she switched it off without realizing?

She bypassed the question; stretched out her arms and let out a loud yawn. Through the window, sounds of birds chirping filled the room. It was nice for her to hear something else besides pouring rain for once.

She took in her surroundings. Every nook and cranny of Jaiden's bedroom was polished. Not a speck of dust was in sight. All her books and stationery were placed precisely where it belonged. Some people even found it unsettling.

Her dad often helps with the tidying. Which was probably the case this morning as her room looked that just bit cleaner. Of course, if that was even possible.

Jaiden reminded herself to thank him later, meanwhile figured she ought to stop idling. She took a quick look at her alarm clock, barely making out the time from the blinding glare. 45 minutes or so to get ready for school, she estimated it would be enough time.

Her dad shouted her name calmly from downstairs, after swiftly drawing the curtains, she headed down and took a left into the bathroom.

Jaiden locked the bathroom door, which made an audible clicking sound.

She eyed herself in the mirror, noticing every flaw and imperfection in the way she looked. From inside the drawer, she picked up her hairbrush and carefully brushed her hair, flattening all the loose strands of hair.

Gently placing the brush back into its drawer, she grabbed her toothbrush and squeezed thick minty toothpaste onto it.

Brushing teeth had always been mundane and unnecessary to her. But it was just one of the things that had been screwed into her from a young age.

About thirty-five minutes later she found herself walking into the classroom. She sat down, and put her backpack on the floor as the teacher proceeded to greet the students.

She didn't notice that she was unintentionally ignoring the teacher.

Perhaps an hour had passed or maybe only 10 minutes?

Time seems to go slower in class. Jaiden had always been a perfectionist, and while she tried her very best at school, she just wasn't a model student. After all, who could listen to the teacher drone on and on about god knows what?

Despite that, she still somehow managed to get top grades in all her subjects. To her, school had always been merely trying to retain and regurgitate facts. Indeed, Jaiden never saw the point of it all.

AbsoluteSonic72 — 01/21/2021

She tried her best to take notes, but making sure it was all organized was challenging enough.

Instead, she spent most of the lesson absent-mindedly watching the shadows cast by the tables and chairs shorten as the sun went up.

Occasionally, she would snap out of her daydream to jot down some notes in perfect handwriting, only to fall back into her subconscious mind.

Finally, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson. It was time for the next class, homeroom.

She wasn't quite sure why it wasn't the in the first period, but she figured the school ought to have its reasons.

She prefered to think of it as a small slither of time used to prepare for the next 6 hours of boredom. Or maybe she only said that because the teacher had just given her homework.

Jaiden lifted her school bag, almost tripping due to the surprising weight of it. After putting the backpack on her back, she walked out of the classroom.

Taking several flights of stairs, she made it. She slumped into her seat, and cautiously placed her bag against the wall.

Surprisingly, the teacher declared she had a special announcement for the students. This managed to get Jaiden's attention, mostly wondering if they would assign another assesment.

The teacher started talking as Jaiden paid close attention to her. "We've decided to move around students to different classes. Some new students will come to this class, and some will leave. This choice was made by the principal, as he said and I quote, 'We need to make sure that the social behaviors and friendships of our students, don't affect their ability to retain knowledge or acquire it'. The changes of class were thereby made studying your social behavior. If anyone has any problems with this order, please stand up".

A strange silence filled the room. No one stood up. Jaiden was sure that everyone wanted to, but they had "no actual reason" to do so. After realizing this, only moments after the silence became unbearable, the teacher proceeded.

"Here are the changes that will be made: Oscar 'toby' Gerson, Samantha Forums, Jaiden Cruz, Helen Powers, Jane Quicksilver and Darlene Gerson " the teacher stopped talking, and then continued "each of these proceed to the door, and there will be further instructions given at the advisory's office. "

Jaiden and the respective others stood up and walked out of the classroom. They waited at the advisory's office for five brief minutes.

After they had been given their information, Jaiden and the others walked to their respective rooms.

She walked alongside Oscar 'toby' Gerson and Samantha Forums. They each now had the same homeroom, and thereby the same order of classes.

They entered the class. Everyone inside stayed silent, some rather unamused.

She sat down, and upon everyone sitting down in their respective seats, the teacher rose from their office styled black seat, and proceeded to give the instructions for the students to introduce themselves.

Jaiden sat down besides Oscar Gerson and Terrence Xender. The former in her old class, and the latter completely unrelated to her.

Jaiden took out a notepad and started writing as the teacher introduced himself. He then later called each new student up to introduce themselves; and after they had all been properly introduced, proceeded with the usual class.

For Jaiden, it was like the first day of school all over again.

Terrence however, was slightly happy that the teacher wasted almost twenty minutes introducing the students, mostly because it narrowed down the time of class he had to take.

The rest of the first half of classes went by notably quickly. Jaiden mostly writing down facts in her notepad and Terrence absent-mindedly listening to the various teachers, barely trying to retain any information.

Then, the bell rang, and the teacher dismissed the class. As soon as the teacher said so, many kids quickly put on their backpacks and trotted outside. Others took their time putting their materials in their backpack, such as Jaiden.

Terrence also ran outside, and almost got pushed over by the stampede of loud students. He felt the breeze hit his face and enjoyed the time he had during recess.

Several minutes later, Terrence was waiting impatiently for Brian outside of the library. Terrence looked around every 10 seconds or so, to see if Brian was nearby. Eventually, Brian walked up to Terrence.

"What took you so long?" said Terrence impatiently as Brian took off schoolbag slowly.

"I was on the other side of the school" replied Brian with notable emphasis on every word. Brian continued talking, "What is it that you need then? I assume you didn't call me for no reason, right?"

"Of course not. Did you perhaps grab my book?" asked Terrence quietly.

"What book?" answered Brian with emphasis on both words.

"The book. The one with exclamation marks on the cover. The one I always bring everywhere. You know, the book." replied Terrence with notable impatience in his pronunciation.

"Well, it's probably in the tree house if you don't have it. . . . Though I don't remember seeing it, although we were in a rush. . . Still, it's probably there." answered Brian doubtfully.

Terrence groaned quietly, Brian looked at Terrence slightly annoyed,

Look, what do you want me to do, I cant do anythi-" Brain was cut off by Terrence,

"Yea I know its just that. . .forget it, its fine."

Terrence walked into the library, and Brian, now somewhat filled with guilt, parted ways after lifting his backpack.

Terrence looked around briefly before writing his name in the paper stipulated by the librarian. He noticed a figure sitting in one of the chairs looking down at the presumed object in the table. He walked towards the figure.

"Do I-" Jaiden turned around as Terrence now realized from where he knew that person.

"Ah" He replied to his own words,

"I recognized you from class" he continued,

"Sorry to bother you" he finished.

"No problem" replied Jaiden who now resumed studying her perfectly written notes.

"What are ya doing?" he asked her curiously.

"I'm studying my notes" she replied briefly. Terrence walked away and started looking for a book in the various dusty shelves.

Jaiden tried to continue the conversation, after losing concentration on revising the notes.

"What book are you looking for?" she asked whilst she put her notebook inside her backpack.

"The Guinness World Records" he replied as he walked forward and continued to look for the book. She closed her backpack with an audible zipping sound before replying,

"Haven't seen that one. . ."

"What books do you like to read?"

"Horror, mysteries and classics, like Dracula for example"

"Oh nice."

Terrence walked towards another one of the numerous rows of bookshelves and repeated the same process.

"Why do you read the Guinness? For fun or out of boredom"

"Not sure. I mostly find the easiest records and try to learn how to do them; emphasis on try"

Terrence briefly stopped and observed one of the shelves more carefully. He then took out a book that labeled, "Guinness World Records". He quickly put the book in his backpack as the blaring sound of the bell echoed through the library and school.

Terrence and Jaiden quickly swung their respective backpacks on and trotted towards their current classroom.

A few more note-taking and day-dreaming hours later, the school day had ended and Jaiden saw Terrence walk up towards her.

"Hey, what is your name?" Terrence asked semi-breathlessly.

Jaiden briefly responded before continuing,

"I got to go home, see you".

"Yeah its fine, nice meeting you!" he replied before she walked away, out of his sight.

Terrence stood in the grass, lying besides a tree waiting patiently for Brian to pass by. Every few moments or so he would catch a glimpse of a figure, and quickly realize it was not Brian.

After standing on the grass for a few minutes he noticed Brian walking on the pavement, moving towards him.

"I'm gonna go to my friend's house, I'll be in the tree house in about 10 minutes" Terrence mentioned as he crossed the school's gate.

"Won't you tell me his name, at least?"

"He likes his privacy, and I understand it"

"So do I but...", Brian sighed in defeat, allowing him to go to his Terrence's friend's house.

"Thanks, be home in 10 minutes"

"You better"

Terrence trotted down the sidewalk as the gusts of wind struck the streets. People rushing down into the insides as the imminence of rain was clear. Taking sharp turns at each street,now running at full charge, he saw the back alley on which his friend lived in, but also noticed Jaiden visibly frustrated standing in front of what he assumed was her house. He quickly slowed his pace, now down to a light trot.

"What's wrong" Terrence asked her loudly as thunder echoed through the skies.

Jaiden sighed frustratedly, "I can't find my keys, I think I left them inside the house"

"This is your house right?"

"What do you think?"

"Just asking; I can help"

"Do you have a giant truck?" she asked jokefully as a light drizzle hit the streets.

"No, but I have a screwdriver" Terrence replied.

He put down his backpack and quickly zipped it open. Terrence took out his lunch box as the drizzle got heavier; he opened his lunch box frantically, and took out a screwdriver. The rain increased as he put the screwdriver into the key hole. He slowly moved the screwdriver left and right until he heard a fainted click. Then, he rotated the screwdriver left and right until the door creaked open.

"I've got to go now, it's about to get real heavy out here" Terrence loudly stated.

"Thanks"

Terrence walked towards Matthew's house, used the screwdriver to open the door and entered the small room. He noticed a sticky note reading, "Left {im} home, be back soon {ok}." the note ended with, from "M" to "T". Terrence sighed and sat on the cushiony chair as he patiently listened to the rain's satisfying pitter patter.


	2. Twilight Pursuit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Progress.

The scattered clouds pigmented the horizon with the dawn scrawling across the seemingly dampened sky. The tree house planted in the forest, the cypress indistinguishable from far, and recognizable from close. The sight of objects with such detail, such uniqueness that the apparent beauty flourishes thoroughly. But inside, the details are different.

Expectations become subversed once the eye is laid on the interior, it becomes clear that simplicity was put at core in the management, it becomes intelligible that at building the lack of labor was an important part of the procedure.

A pitch resonates from the inside, cracking wooden planks reverberating in order, stipulating activity from the interior of the building.

Opening the dusty windows that glowed brightly; somewhat reflecting the light of the sun, Brian peeked his head out, tasting the fresh morning air as the breeze became a gust of wind that sent various papers flying across the room.

Brian carefully trotted across the room, catching them in mid flight, attempting desperately to not wake Terrence up. After collecting the papers, he looked at the sketches that Terrence had made a few days ago, which he forgot to put in his book. Brian wondered where Terrence came from, as even he himself barely knew what he was doing in the city. For all Brian knew, he could be a terrorist escaping from the police.

Brian laughed at the thought; as he knew Terrence too well and he knew that he wouldn’t be capable of inflicting that much pain to anyone, at least not anymore. He shook his head after realizing where his train of thought was heading, and put the sketches in a table. He walked into the storage room, which was empty. With a groan, he took out a piece of paper and left a note for Terrence.

The note was indicating he was gone to buy supplies, and that he’d be back by 3 pm, which seemed like enough time for Brian to recollect enough food.

He put on one of the dusty, worn out jackets that were in the even dustier closet and proceeded to wear it. He put on sunglasses and a hat, rather a convenient one, unlike the pitch black sunglasses that seemed to be for style rather than use. He went back to the supply room and opened a drawer, which contained two months’ worth of water bottles. He took out three water bottles, put two in a fridge which was terribly old, and took one which fit in his pockets.

After making sure he was ready to leave, he opened the wooden door, which was made from Oak wood, unlike the rest of the tree house which sported a dark red color emanating from the cypress wood. After he opened the wooden door and climbed unwarily down the wooden stairs, he head off into the woods that were in between the city and his home.

Hours later Terrence woke up due to the sound of crumbling wood and loud gusts of wind. In a state of utter panic, he ran down the tree and instinctively hid inside a hole which he himself dug in case of any, specific emergency that might request a place that wouldn’t fly away.

After staying under the ground for 30 seconds, he heard the ambient calm down, and so he poked his head out of the hole he had dug. He realized that the crumbling sounds proceeded from a nearby tree, one that was already doomed to crumble in despair months ago. Thoughts still rushing through his head, he looked around in the horizon, not a cloud in the sky, only the bright sun shining down and a distant tall building in sight.

He looked towards the floor, and cowardly took a deep breath, inhaling the oxygen around him and feeling the gusts of wind strike his body like water to the sand. He climbed up the ladder and proceeded to enter the tree house, now noticing a note that sit glued in a stained table. He read the note and proceeded to brush his teeth. After, he opened the fridge and realized that it was true, that there were no supplies in store in the tree house, only infamous water bottles and remains of half eaten energy bars and candy brands.

He drank one water bottle completely, and then proceeded to go down the stairs, on his way down tripping twice, on the first and third stair. He accepted that he was still shook from the incident that happened when he woke up, and so he thought of ways to calm himself down.

Brian had left for much needed supplies so he couldn’t afford anything too costy. He could barely buy anything except candy bars and sodas, and water bottles which he had seen too much. So he decided he would not be able to buy any medicines or products which would calm him down.

He then proceeded to think that he was overreacting and that he would be fine, but after his inner screen filled with memories of specific incidents, and after remembering the spine-chilling sound of the “oooooo’s” various times, he decided to argue against the thought of being fine. He decided to look it up on his book, to see if she had written a specific chapter about his episodes of fear. He consulted the book and after squirming through various pages, found a topic similar to what he was experiencing. He knew it wasn’t a cure, nor a medicine that would work, but it was worth a shot.

After finishing the page the only thing that it consulted about the specific “what to do”, was resting or taking a walk. He disagreed with those answers, though he knew they were obvious, he avoided them for a reason; that being that the thought of the incidents wouldn’t stop recurring in his mind.

After minutes of looking for better answers, he gave up on it and decided he would try to take a walk around town, to see if it would calm him. He deeply doubted that a mere walk would cure him from his panic, but he had no other choice, as he didn’t want to nap, he accepted his lack of sleep.

He walked down the stairs, ignoring the fact he had tripped three times, more than last time. He put on some cheap sunscreen he found in Brian’s drawer, and headed outside into the woods. He looked across the horizon, the sun shining on his shoulders, and after reaching the city, started walking through the various sidewalks that were laid out on the infamous city streets.

Brian trotted across the neatly polished floor; moving from one shop to another, recollecting supplies. He took a sharp left turn, to his surprise,the hallway was fairly, heck no; really empty. He looked both sides and saw nothing but the edges of shops and big red letters that served to call out attention.

He walked steadily through the hallway, and noticed a fire alarm. To his surprise not ringing, he confidently took a deep breath and proceeded to walk unsteadily through the eerie hallway.

Suddenly, the lights went off, but not before Brian could perceive movement on the edge of the corner. He quickly dropped the bags slowly, as to not make noise; and proceeded to walk slowly towards the corner. After getting the full view of the hallway, he could see a bench, or at least what seemed to be like one, he then saw the shadow walk up to him, slowly showcasing its human features.

”Weird huh? One minute everyone is in the same room and you take a few turns and you end up in an abandoned ghost town. ” Said the unusually friendly stranger.

Brian thought of a quick response but got interrupted halfway in the process by the stranger, who proceeded to ask him if he knew where they were.

”Do you know where we are? You’re probably experienced here, but I’m new to town. ” He said as Brian sat down on the apparently dusty bench.

”Actually, I have never been in this part of the mall before. ” Brian said while trying to hide his confusion.

”Heh. Guess we’re in the same situation huh? ” said the stranger not noticing Brian started pushing his bags of supplies closer to him, as to not look suspicious.

”What’s your name? ” said Brian after noticing the figure weared a black shirt with the Zelda logo on it, asymmetrically.

*Why is he asking me that? Is it that big of a coincidence that we’re in the same situation? Is he doubting me? Or do I look suspicious? *

William got interrupted in between his doubtful thoughts by Brian; but William quickly responded

“William, and yours? ” answered William now noticing the hallway better, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he began to see more of it.

”Brian. Do you know where we are? ” he asked as his eyes too adjusted to the darkness, although notoriously faster than William's eyes.

”Well, I come from the main part of the mall, the one with the big statue, golden statue specifically” said William now more capable of taking in his surroundings, his eyes completely adjusted to the darkness of the eerily creepy hallway.

”Oh? Then we aren’t that far away from the parts of the mall I know.

Suddenly, the lights turned on.

”Frick!” screamed William as Brian abruptly dropped the bag of supplies that he was grabbing.

”What the heck?! What was that?? ” Said William as Brian checked his bag to make sure that none of the articles that were inside the bag he had dropped had been damaged.

Their eyes soon adjusted to the bright lights that were suddenly turned on.

”Guess everything is fine then? ” said Brian meanwhile checking his second bag of supplies.

William gave Brian a doubting look as he looked around for people, shortly after looking back at Brian who stood up after having finished checking the bags that seemed to be okay.

”Hey, isn’t that a map? ” said Brian after scanning the horizon of the now apparently longer hallway.

William noticed the paper that Brian had pointed to, and started walking slowly but confidently towards it. As he walked closer, he started noticing the lines on the piece of paper, eventually being able to approve that it was indeed a map of the mall.

”Well to be fair, it was pretty far away from where we were standing, and we wouldn’t have been able to notice it from such a long distance. ” Said William confidently as he turned around swiftly, noticing now that Brian sported a Kurzgesagt T-shirt that was apparently mildly stained.

”Yeah, so anyways see you. Now that I can see the hallway completely, I think I have a rough idea of where I am; plus that map gave me a mild visualization which came in handy. So, hate to cut it short, but see you!” said Brian as he slowly walked away with the bags of supplies.

William waved back and continued to walk through the mall.

Terrence walked carelessly through the city sidewalks, his skin mildly burnt from the sun that peeked its way through the buildings in the horizon. Terrence took various turns throughout his time outside, and then decided he already had had to put up with enough heat to know it was time to go back to the tree house and find an activity that burns your skin less.

Looking at the distant horizon, and after taking a turn he noticed the big mountain that laid on the abroad horizon. Terrence noticed something familiar on the corner of his eye, and swiftly turned around to see what it was. He laid his eyes upon Jaiden’s house, and decided to see if he could hang around for a while.

Terrence walked up to the house, crossing the street precariously, and knocked on the wooden door twice. Thirty seconds had passed and no answer so far. He knocked again, slightly less hard than before, but three times instead of two. After a few seconds, Jaiden opened the door.

”Yeah what is it? ” she asked slightly drowsily.

”Oh I didn’t realize it was that early. Then again I don’t have a clock. ”

Jaiden waited for him to finish talking abruptly responding “It’s pretty early, if you didn’t know. ”

She said while adjusting to the sunlight that penetrated the clouds above.

”So; do I come back later? ” said Terrence in a monotone.

”Nah, come in if you want to. ” Said Jaiden while opening the door completely after her eyes had properly adjusted to the sunlight.

Terrence willingly accepted and entered the living room, which had a marble countertop with a half square shape, upon closer inspection noticing the countertop had a sink and a compartment for storing glasses, plates and pans individually. The living room itself was appealing, it had a white couch and a television a few feet in front of the couch.

A big radio which visually consisted of three smaller radios and other objects and items.

Terrence quickly but carefully sat on the couch, and asked Jaiden if he could watch television.

After Jaiden reluctantly agreed, she went upstairs and wasn’t seen by Terrence entering her room.

Terrence turned on the tv, and cast his eyes upon the news channel talking about a car accident a few streets away from the park, close to the mall in fact.

He quickly overlooked the news and changed the channel.

A few minutes later Jaiden came back from upstairs;

“So, what happened? ” she asked as she steadily walked down the stairs.

”Nah, nothing much. We ran out of supplies on the tree house and Brian went out for more. I don’t really have much to do right now, so I decided I’d take a walk. On my way back to the tree house, I passed your house and decided I’d stay for a while. ” Said Terrence as he absent-mindedly changed from channel to channel.

”Well, I have a bunch of stuff to do today; had I not woke up this early I wouldn’t have much free time” replied Jaiden as she made her way to the last stairs.

”I never have any responsibilities, except school obviously” declared Terrence as he turned the tv off after failing to find any entertaining channels.

”Then again, why do you bother to go to school? ” mentioned Jaiden as she went to the shiny marble countertop.

”Honestly, as for me, I feel some sense of reward when going, or at least trying to understand the subjects. Other than that, i'd be bored if it weren’t for school, after all a life with no responsibilities is kind of slavery. ” Declared Terrence as his mind contemplated past events or objects.

He continued,

“As for Brian, its one of the requirements to get his monthly payment” finished Terrence as Jaiden opened the fridge and got out a plastic envelopment which had bread.

”Monthly… payment? ” asked Jaiden curiously after closing the fridge.

”Yeah, I promised I wouldn’t give in depth details about his life so if you want to learn more you should ask him” stated Terrence.

”Can I say something that may sound rude but it’s not my intention? ” asked Jaiden once more as she made herself bread.

”Sure, take a shot. ” Replied Terrence abruptly as he absent mindedly sat on the couch. ”Vos amis sont très étranges, ou du moins ceux que je connais. ” Replied Jaiden effortlessly as she finished making her bread and begun to put the ingredients back.

At that Terrence's expression changed to one of sheer confusion.

”I… don’t speak French. ” Stated Terrence confusedly.

”Oh, then it means that most of your friends are weird, or at least the ones I know about” explained Jaiden whilst she sat on a chair and proceeded to eat her bread.

”Well we don’t have normal, perfect lives you know. While you were eating cake and celebrating your birthdays we had to eat semi-raw meat. Obvious exaggeration but you get my point. ” Declared Terrence in another similar monotone, this one seemingly more playful, but rather forced.

”Now that I think about it, you don’t really have any friends, do you? Again, not to be rude but I have never seen you in company of anyone else besides Brian. ” Mumbled Jaiden quietly but perceptively.

”I do have another one, well not really, as he states we are more partners than friends, and I know actually very little about him or his life but I know him at least. ” Replied Terrence while Jaiden finished consuming the last parts of the sandwich. ”What’s his name? ” asked Jaiden. ”Why do you wanna know? Sorry for asking but he really doesn’t like that I share literally anything about him with anyone” stated Terrence truthfully.

“Well, it was for curiosity” replied Jaiden as she stood up after having finished eating her sandwich. “His name is Matthew, but like I said I don’t know much about him. Every once in a while I go check on him, and give him food and/or water bottles. ” Declared Terrence as Jaiden opened the fridge once more.

”Ive seen you go to the same street a couple of times, but after a half hour you come back out of the street, missing an object or item. But I never really questioned it, to be honest” accepted Jaiden as she took out a jar of water. “Yea, anyways; where is your dad? ” asked Terrence in an attempt to drift the conversation.

“He’s backyard” replied Jaiden quickly whilst getting a glass and filling it with water. Terrence stood up from the couch abruptly; “Well, hate to cut this short but im gonna leave now; wanna be in the tree house by the time Brian shows up” said Terrence. “Well see you then” replied Jaiden opening the door.

“See you” said Terrence as he walked out of the house and into the sidewalk. “Adieu” replied Jaiden before closing the door.

On the way to the tree house thunder rumbled across the sky, the sun no longer visible, now covered by a blanket of gray that spread like wildfire.

Terrence reached the tree house before it started to pour. He could see Brian in the distant, whilst he standed on the ceiling of the tree house. He ran towards him and helped him with the bags as the rain turned into heavy drizzle. “This is why I hate mud!” shouted Brian as they ran towards the tree house.

They climbed carefully up the ladder and put the bags inside. Brian closed the door sharply as Terrence proceeded to hammer down windows in an effort to avoid flooding. “Frickin’ heavy rain” replied Terrence as Brian started sorting out the supplies. Another rumble went across the sky, and soon enough, the first lightning struck in the distance.

Brian went to bed as Terrence started drawing sketches to pass the time, eventually falling asleep as well.

While they slept, two more lightings struck simultaneously, except not as expected.

They seemed to stay, and move around for a few seconds eventually disappearing but instead of abruptly, they seemed to fade. And moments after, a bright light could be precepted at the presumable location the lightning struck.

The event repeated twice and no more after, it was bizarre and unexplained. The first notable change.

The sunset was not notable, it was descending further deeper into the vast space of the horizon. As night struck in the city, stars became visible and businesses closed; another loud crack was heard from the forest, perceptible in a big radius from inside the forest.

Terrence woke up suddenly, unaware of his surroundings for seconds. He looked around and realized the lack of light inside the tree house. Moments after deducing he had fallen asleep, he stood up and walked around the tree house to warm up his legs.

He then proceeded to grab a handy hammer, and take apart the nails in the pieces of wood he had previously put to block out the rain. After having finished the task, he put the pieces of wood in the supply room and proceeded to take out his book.

Another loud sound was heard across the forest, Terrence looked around to acquire information of the location on which the sound was emitted. He put his book back carefully, and slowly walked towards the door which was seemingly damp. He opened the door slowly, and carefully climbed down the stairs as he noticed the surprisingly visible stars above him, which all twinkled in apparent unison.

After finally reaching the ground he looked around the tree house, seeing silhouettes of familiar and unfamiliar objects, all of which the most notable one was the path to the outside of the park which was filled with countless puddles.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he heard a familiar crumble which seemed to come from the big tree that was doomed to fall down months ago, and had crumbled similarly in the morning. Analizing the sound, doubt began to fill his thoughts.

A subsequent sound emanated from the tree, which caused Brian to wake up. Another sound came from far away, and Terrence’s eyes widened as he listened to the burst of sounds that echoed across the forest. He quickly climbed up the ladder, pounding each foot on it until ultimately reaching the top.

Opening the door, he grabbed his backpack and ran towards a confused Brian. “Stand up! Grab your backpack and come!” shouted Terrence as the sound became louder in the distance. Before Brian could react, Terrence grabbed Brian’s backpack and swiftly tossed it to him, while looking around his environments, searching endlessly for movement. Confused, Brian put his backpack on his back, and walked slowly towards Terrence as a barrage of sounds could be heard in the not so far distance.

“Go for it! Run! I’ll explain later!” shouted Terrence as he opened the door and indicated for Brian to go down the stairs. “What the fuck are you talking about?!” replied Brian loudly as Terrence jumped onto the floor from the tree house, his legs absorbing the impact as the sounds became louder and had a higher pitch. Brian reluctantly climbed down the stairs as Terrence waited impatiently for him.

With a repetition of the sound, which was now very familiar to both, Brain seemed to slightly understand the reasoning in Terrence’s actions; and also now realized that he was apparently in a situation in which he never wanted to be in.

Now more recognizable than ever, like yellow lights illuminating the vast forest, gunshots were heard nearby.

Every thought was rushing through their minds as they ran away from the now barely visible tree house. The gun shots were still perceptible as they crossed the street, Terrence looked around scanning quickly his surroundings as Brian gazed at the mountain which was now to the far left; both while running tirelessly through the darkness that surrounded them.

After countless minutes of running in unconceivable directions, Brian ultimately stopped running and proceeded to breathe heavily as Terrence put his backpack on the floor and studied its items.

“I have; so many questions. ” Stated Brian as the sounds that were before loud seemed to fade away. “Go ahead. ” Stated Terrence in a monotone that seemed to trace off. After taking various deep breaths, Brian sat on the dampened floor and dropped his backpack.

“First, who the heck are those guys? ” said Brian as a barrage of bullets lighted the night sky in the horizon. “Hell if I know. Probably some idiotic teenagers looking for trouble, of perhaps pay-for-kill adults looking for the apparent satisfaction of a murder; like I said i've got no idea.

All I know is that they're many, and they're looking for business. ” Replied Terrence as he looked at the blue-ish moon which was above him. “How do you know they're ‘many’? ” questioned Brian as more uncoherent thoughts rushed his mind. “The gunshots.

They echoed, considering the density of the forest and the size of the tree house, not to sound smart, but its deductable that they're 20; at least. ” Replied Terrence vigorously as Brian looked at him doubtfully. “What do you have to do with all of this? ” asked Brian as he heard imperceptible sounds which emanated from the forest which was now far away.

Before Terrence could reply, gunshots fired once again, and soon the individuals firing them became visible. “I don’t think we have much time here, we better move” stated Terrence standing up and grabbing his backpack. “Don’t think ill forget the question when this is over” replied Brian as he stood up with his backpack already on his back.

“If. ” Replied Terrence once more as the voices of the attackers were now audible. Terrence and Brian ran silently, as the attackers seem to stop moving towards them. They couldn’t get very far, as tired as they were, both of them knew they couldn’t keep running forever.

Breathless, Brian stopped running, and harshly sat on the floor once more. Terrence stopped as well, and started taking deep breaths as an eerie silence went over them. “Cant we, call the. . call the police? ” asked Brian as Terrence looked around to make sure they were safe.

“I don’t think we can, they would question us, why would a gang be after us? ” replied Terrence quickly, almost whispering.

“Lets go somewhere safe then, like Jaiden’s house. ” Stated Brian whilst he opened his backpack and took out a much necessary water bottle. “And put her, her dad and whoever else is with her in danger? Thats not viable and you know it. ”

Answered Terrence as footsteps became slightly audible in the distance. Terrrence continued, “There’s no easy way out of this. We can either survive or kill, and im not gonna bargain” he said coldly, not hearing the sound of people running in the distance. “And by that you mean. . . surviving; right? ” answered Brian doubtfully whilst he put the water bottle in the backpack.

“There’s no way im going in jail again, we’re gonna have to make it through this” replied Terrence coldly, unaware of the moving shadows nearby. A faint clank was heard in the distance, Terrence immediately grabbed his backpack and looked around, while Brian stood up slowly and cautiously.

Suddenly, three people became slightly visible, and Terrence turned around to notice five more behind them in the distance, blocking off their escape route. The three people walked slowly towards them, and the silhouettes of guns, big guns, became visible.

Brian and Terrence remained silent, the former grabbing his backpack slowly whilst the latter remained focus on the people in front of him.

The three attackers stopped walking towards them, remaining an apparent distance of 8 feet ( 2. 4 meters ) and one of them started talking. “Is it both of which I presume you are? ” stated the murderous man in front of Brian and Terrence. “Me; no; speak; British. Speak; English please. ” Replied Terrence mockingly unaware that the men behind him started to move slowly towards them.

“Very, amusing. Are you who I think you are, I shall not say once more. ” Replied the business man as Brian stared infinitely into the now defined silhouettes of the three men in front of him. No more was heard from Terrence nor Brian, as the five men behind them started to move more cautiously.

“Very well then. Shall I do my act slowly or rapidly? ” said the man pretentiously as the two men besides him took several steps back, as if preparing for an imminent chaos.

Terrence looked at Brian, and vice-versa; unnoticed by the presumed murderer in front of them. Their thoughts soon crossed, as if telling each other words without talking. The five men behind them deliberately ran towards them, each with murderous intentions.

Brian ran towards nearby fire escape stairs which were unnoticed, as Terrence standed ground. Two men furiously ran towards Terrence, and he moved backwards with each step, retreating at sign of attack. Brian ran up the fire escape stairs, only to be followed by the two men with machine guns. Brian rapidly ran up the stairs as thoughts rushed his mind, seeing the confrontation below.

Terrence fought off the men, not being able to properly stop them, but instead debilitate them to gain time. He had taken down one of the men, and two more stood their ground. Realizing how much effort this was taking, Terrence came to the realization that they weren’t indeed gang members.

No time to think, gotta act quickly he thought as a tall man rushed towards him rapidly with a knife on his hand. The opponent attacked with his knife swiftly, and Terrence fought him off utilizing the knife against him. With a kick, he pushed his adversary to the ground, and the knife fell to the floor.

Looking at each other for only a brief instance, Terrence ran towards the knife in the floor, only for it to be grabbed by another man.

*I don’t think this is working out in my favor. * thought Terrence as the foe he had faced stood up, and one more man walked towards him as well. *Don’t have any weapons, cant show off my strength; this is a tough situation. *

All of a sudden what had once been six men soon became a dozen, in a battle where the chance of victory was slim at best. *This is getting overwhelming, better make a run for it while I ca- Terrence was interrupted in his thoughts by audible gunshots, in the far distance. Utilizing the sounds to his advantage; he ran in a very crowded direction, utilizing a technique that he remembered,

Use reverse phsychology when the chance of victory is slim, it will turn the chances around. Making his way through the dense bodies between him and a safe corner, he was able to use his enemies bodies as human shields, protecting him from various bulllets that pierced the air. He eventually made his escape and ran up the fire escape stairs, followed by 4 men.

Meanwhile, Brian was arduously jumping from rooftop to rooftop, illuminated by the stars above and his motivation were the two men that ran behind him, each with apparent machine guns. Soon he was exhausted, but he pushed himself to keep running through the pitch black rooftops.

He suddenly halted abruptly, after realizing there were no more buildings in front of him. Excessively worried, he realized that his opponents were fairly far away from him, and decided to use the time he had to his advantage. He looked around, before noticing worn out fire escape stairs that were on the edge of the building.

The only problem being that the drop was seemingly lethal, and he lacked the courage to jump from such a high distance.

He quickly turned around only to realize that his foes were now close enough to him to fire, he reluctantly jumped from the edge of the building, covering his head while falling, as gunshots were fired in the rooftop.

He suddenly felt his body hit the hard metal surface of the fire escape stairs, and quickly stood up. He then proceeded to run down the stairs quickly, before the adversaries in the celing noticed his presence.

He again halted, and realized he had made a brutal mistake. The stairs were worn out, and the lower half of them were not there; that being; the stairs ended up leading in mid air, and the fall was of an apparent 10 feet.

Terrence noticed two tall figures in the distance, standing potently. As he ran further away from his foes, and jumped through the wet rooftops he was able to notice the silhouettes of the two men, now with machine guns.

He quickly slowed down, and tried to remain out of sight. He quickly looked around himself, and noticed a large trash bin close to the edge of the building. He looked back and noticed how close the four men were, and jumped into the large trash bin with the black bags inside cushioning his fall.

He stood up silently, and got out of the repulsive smelling trash bin. He noticed the men reunite themselves, followed by inaudible exchange of words between them. *Where’s Brian? I didn’t see him on my way here… …and hes definitely not dead, there was no corpse there.

At least not that I could see- Terrence was again interrupted in between his thoughts by a loud metallic noise proceeding from the edge of the building. Terrence rapidly ran towards the corner of the building, and peeked his head out carefully. He noticed Brian on the edge of a broken fire escape stair, and the men in the ceiling looking down into the stairs, looking for Brian.

“I see him. ” Stated one of the men audibly to both Brian and Terrence. “Then jump. ” Replied another voice from the men, “Why don’t you jump? You have a knife” stated the first voice. “Just fucking jump!” declared another voice angrily, and two men proceeded stand on the edge of the building.

Terrence noticed the stairs were worn out, and it would probably break if more weight was applied, “Jump down, when you fall; roll! He whispered to Brian, who was not able to receive the message. On the ceiling, one of the men noticed the whispering, and silently proceeded to jump into the trash bin.

Brian stood deliberately immobile, not noticing Terrence. Then, one of the men jumped harshly into the stairs, causing them to collapse abruptly. As the stairs fell to the sidewalk, Terrence got hit in the back by a man, he fell to the floor landing on his back painfully.

Brian quickly got out of the remains of the fire escape stairs and quickly noticed his leg was bleeding. Ignoring the mild pain, he ran out of the remains as the men in the ceiling ran to look for a fast way down.

Terrence stood up as his attacker remained calm, and Terrence proceeded to kick him in the chest, only for his kick to be grabbed by his foe. Brian strongly punched the attacker, causing him to fall on his back. Terrence stood up slowly, and soon realized they were once more surrounded by adversaries.

“You should’ve jumped earlier. ” Said Terrence as the enemies walked closer towards them.

“That’s what you would have done, but i'm not you. ” Replied Brian as the pain he felt on his left foot resumed. “So. Guess this is an easy one for them huh? ” stated Terrence. “Put the guns in the floor, slowly!” was heard loudly from a man in a police suit. The adversaries turned around to notice half a dozen police visible officers behind them, as well as someone with a Zelda t-shirt asymmetrically.

Brian recognized the person, but remained silent as the police officers waited for the response of the presumed gang members. “And what if we kill them first? ” replied the apparent leader of the adversaries. “Then we have permission to shoot, and you wouldn’t want that would you? ” replied the presumably captain of the officers.

Accepting defeat, the gang members let Terrence and Brian walk away, and join the police officers. Suddenly, a barely perceivable small size missile landed in front of the police officers, creating a large explosion that caused huge knockback.

A few police officers fell to the floor due to the explosion, but the adversaries utilized the distraction as a means to escape. A man in a police uniform took photos of a figure in the buildings running, but before anyone else could take action, the man had escaped. “Ive got the pics, we got him!” exclaimed the uniformed man with a camera.

The police officers returned to their respective cars and proceeded to leave, as the uniformed man approached William. “Stay safe guys” said the uniformed man with a camera as he did a handshake with William. After, the cameraman proceeded to enter his car and leave as well.

“Am I glad to see you” said Brian as William looked at Terrence. “Nah. I don’t live in this city, i'm a traveller. I tend to stay in police stations at night, it’s the safest place for me. ” Replied William. “So; what did I miss on? ” chuckled Terrence playfully. “My name is William, I met your friend at the mall, during the shake out. ” Said William as Brian realized why the lights had gone out during his stay at the mall.

“Oh, my name is Terrence, im his best friend” he replied. William chuckled and shrugged, “Well, im glad I was able to help with something today”. “Hey, if you want, you can come to our tree house, I assume that you don’t have a house here in the city” replied Brian as Terrence looked around to see where they were.

“Em, yea sure. If you got space that is” answered William as Terrence and Brian started walking. “Yea, we got space for one more” stated Brian as the three of them walked towards the tree house. The stars illuminated the sky and the horizon, creating the beauty of the twilight.

A figure sat on a chair in an unknown part of the city. A man came towards him, and stated on a monotone, “They managed to escape, but we still got them tracked”- “They escaped!? ” “Yes sir, the police came to help them and as you tol- “As I told you to kill them!I should’ve put someone better in charge other than you. ” “But si- “That is enough!Call Vennell. Tell him we have a situation. ”

The man standing up ran to a nearby telephone, and proceeded to make an inaudible call. The man in the chair chuckled lightly, as the stars twinkled once more. The man in the chair looked at the black night sky; and proceeded to wait in his wooden chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was especially hard to work with due to the stress of creating a realistic environment without killing off the characters.
> 
> The chase scenes were especially fun to make though.


	3. A Cold Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1/2 (first half) - Brian and Terrence wake up. William visits someone.
> 
> 2/2 (last half) - Terrence and Brian go out to buy something. William meets someone. They talk with each other.

Brian felt a sense of frigidness surrounding him before he abruptly woke up, consciousness returning to him and his dream quickly dissolving into reality. The air felt motionlessly cold as he sat down on his bed. 

Breathing slowly, he relaxed himself and stood up, quickly noticing the unusually low temperatures that were upon the tree house. He entered the bathroom and proceeded to brush his teeth. After doing so, he scanned his surroundings. Terrence was still in deep sleep, and William was not present.

Everything was as neat as it could be, except the small wooden table that had books all over it. Some of Terrence’s school notebooks were there, as well as some doodles and drawings on ripped off pieces of paper. 

Brian walked towards the messy table, and carefully pushed away the masses of notebooks and doodles, leaving a few empty papers on the table. Taking out his pencil, he started to write on one of the blank papers.  
He wrote, thoughtfully choosing his words and doing his best to resist the surprising cold inside the room. Brian felt his hand glued to the pencil abruptly, limiting his movements. 

He looked at the pencil that, to his surprise, was encased in a thick layer of ice, with his hand inside of it.  
Quickly growing worried, he tried hitting his hand with the table as strong as he could, but then recalled that Terrence was still sleeping. 

As the ice slowly became thicker, he dismissed his worry and hit the layer of ice with the wooden table, causing it to slightly crack. Repeating the action his hand broke free of its frigid encasement and he worriedly stood up.  
Then noticing another issue, his foot was frozen stuck to the wooden floor. 

This increased his panic, but he quickly put his hands on the wall to lift his foot. He lifted with as much strength as he could muster, but to no avail, his foot remained stuck. 

His worry increasing, he attempted a second time to lift his foot, this time by pushing himself upwards as he lifted as strongly as possible. 

He could feel the ice encasement starting to crack slowly, but he was quickly running out of energy to lift himself.  
Utilizing every bit of strength, he broke the ice encasement only to quickly realize his hands were frozen stuck to the wooden wall. 

Added onto that, he had broken some wooden planks when he lifted his feet.  
Sighing in defeat, he rested as well as he could to regain strength. 

Meanwhile the ice was slowly thawing, as he calmed himself and relaxed as best as he could in the situation, not able to completely dismiss his worries.  
The ice’s thawing accelerated until there was only a small encasement of ice gluing his hands to the wooden wall. Almost effortlessly, he broke free of the hold of the ice encasement. 

Realizing he was free to move, he quickly climbed down the stairs and walked into the heat of the sun; sitting on the grass as the gentle breeze became louder. 

Warmed up, Brian took some moments to think about the absurdly low temperatures that were in the tree house. 

Oddly enough, Terrence was still in somewhat deep sleep, and he didn’t appear to be affected by the temperature.  
However, most objects nearby Brian seemed to freeze rather quickly, as if the frigidness was following him. 

He stood up slowly, and after stretching, climbed the ladder and went into the tree house.  
Walking in somewhat silence, he headed towards the closet. Opening the wooden door, he got out a coat and wore it before closing the wooden door of the closet.  
Looking at the whole in the floor, he quickly looked for a hammer and some wooden boards, and with some nails he had bought a few weeks ago, he started fixing the hole he had ripped open.

Minutes later, Terrence threw a deep, long tired moan before getting out of bed. 

The repetitive banging of the hammer was driving him insane, he hated being woken up earlier than he was used to. Sitting on his bouncy bed, he tried to cancel the echoing banging of the hammer but to no avail, he stood up and walked towards the table, where Brian was trying to hammer down a wooden tile but kept failing miserably. 

Brian turned around and noticed Terrence’s, deeply tired face, and his now wrinkled clothes. Before Brian could resume his hammering, Terrence spoke up.  
“What-appened?” he quickly slurred.

“The tile broke, I’m trying to fix it.” Brian responded, waving his hammer.

“Let me handle it” Terrence said, wiping off the tired look on his face, reverting it to his ‘do-work’ attitude which he sported often.  
Brian happily gave Terrence the hammer, which he caught in the air. He put the hammer in the table and went to brush his teeth.

After finishing, Brian gained recollection, he walked towards Terrence who was now properly hammering to wooden board.

“Hey, remember last night?” Terrence asked, Brian’s expression slightly shifted in response.

“Yeah, how could I forget when we were hunted down by murderers.”  
“Not murderers, gang members”

“How can you be sure? And does it really matter, I don’t care who is hunting me down or what they are as long as they don’t succeed.”

“Murderers don’t get 15 to twenty of themselves just to kill two teens.”  
Brian’s expression shifted again, now to one of deep thought, his face scrunched up with effort.

“Speaking of which. You said you’d explain what you know about these guys; thoroughly.” Brian stated, inciting that he do it now.

“I never said that” Terrence quickly replied.  
Brian gave him a cold look, one of unacceptance.

“The thoroughly, I mean” Terrence corrected his sentence.

Terrence grabbed the hammer and hit the last nail. Standing up tall, he continued;

“Ill explain tonight, but friendly warning that I don’t have much to explain.”

Terrence put down the hammer. He let out a deep sigh.

That was a lie he thought. Boy do I have a lot to explain.  
AbsoluteSonic72 — 03/03/2021  
In the city’s biggest library, William sat down on a chair, opening a book and beginning to read. His thoughts delved into the book’s statements, rapidly accounting them as a hopeful truth, not recognizing his wishful thinking.  
Maybe it is true he thought.

He let out a yawn, and abruptly closed the book. William stood up and returned the book to its shelf.

The sun hit his eyes as he walked outside of the library, and he walked through the streets towards the police station in which Roman worked in. The building towered over him, casting a welcomed shade onto the sidewalk.  
He sat down on a bench and looked at his clock, which displayed 2:57 pm.

A minute passed, and the police station door was opened due to a pair of policemen who ate their late lunch. William turned his head, but nonetheless, Roman was nowhere to be seen.

He felt thirst invading his body as minutes passed, quickly turning his head to even the smallest indication of something or someone that would be Roman.  
But nothing.

He glanced at his clock once more; the neon lights displayed the numbers 3:12 pm.

Anxiety was chewing the rest of his mind, Doubt creeping into his thoughts as the seconds mechanically passed.  
William hated the feeling that had shown itself at his worst moments. 

The feeling that was lack of progress, the inability to escape. Time passing slower and slower as he grew more desperate by the minute.

It was a feeling of a higher self-consciousness. 

And he despised it.

His eyes fluttered as the sun seemed to die out; everything slowly vanished out of sight as he fell into sleep.  
Far away from the police station, into the forests of the city; Matthew carried his backpack down the steep mountain.

The sun was starting to fall, as he preferred to describe it. 

It must have been the afternoon; the sun’s brightness was decaying. That was good, it made his trip downwards smoother.  
He reached the bottom of the steep triangle, at level with the rest of the town. Matthew trekked on through the sidewalks, passing fast food restaurants and crossing avenues until he reached the heart of the town.

The park’s entrance, also known as “The Heart of the Town” by the locals was the area on which traffic was at its most dense.

Matthew stood by the park’s entrance, debating his proceeding action.  
If he crossed the avenue and returned home, he would have to organize his backpack and room immediately after, which would impede him from resting for at least a half hour.

However, by going to the park and resting he could regain his energy and prepare for the work he needed to do.

He concluded his debate by walking through the park’s gate, turning his head at the lack of activity in the park.  
He walked towards a pair of grass patches and sat down. 

Letting a deep sigh escape; he took his backpack off and laid it on the soft patches. 

A short nap wouldn’t inflict much change in his schedule.

His imaginary schedule.  
Two beeps awoke William at the police station. He quickly looked around and looked at his clock, which now displayed 4 pm. 

Shortly after, the door to the station opened and Roman walked out with an empty container on his hands.  
“What’s up?” Roman said whilst sitting down on the bench. William cleared his eyes before responding.

“More like what’s down” he responded.

“Then what’s down?”

“My head, because you’re one hour late”

“My break’s at 4; how long have ya been here?”

“One hour”

“What did you want to tell me?”

“How’s that case going?”

“Which case?”

“The teen’s case”

“That’s out of my hands right now”

“How so?”

“It may involve some other unaccounted factors that veer it away from my jurisdiction”

“What factors?”

“Can’t specificate that, you know how it is”

“Then what can you do?”

“Right now, not much; we’ll have to see if the case falls back into my jurisdiction before I can fill you in on some details”

“Aight”

“Break’s up, see you”

“Already?”

“It only lasts 15 minutes, I have many stuff on queue”

“See you then”  
William and Roman parted ways. They’d see each other again soon.

William walked into the park. 

The trees waved with the wind as he walked into the deeper parts of the park’s forest. The tree house came into view as soon as William stepped out onto the empty field.  
He sighed deeply. William quickly walked towards the ladder and climbed it rather slowly.

“Not used to living up here huh” greeted Terrence from inside.  
William carefully finished climbing the ladder with much effort. 

He gasped for air as Terrence opened the front door and waved for him to get inside. 

“What took you so long?” Brian asked him as he spun round in a chair with wheels.

“I like taking my time” he replied.  
Brian stopped spinning and wore off his dizziness as he stood up.

“So uh, what are you doing?” William questioned as he sat down on a nearby chair.

“Nothing; just chillin’” Terrence replied.

“What will we do today then?” 

“What do you mean?” Brian questioned.

“You have any plans?”

Terrence and Brian remained silent, a few seconds later Terrence stood up and whilst gesturing his hands forward replied; 

“We don’t do that here”  
Terrence wickedly laughed as Brian just sat down on his chair. 

After the event passed they picked up the conversation once more.

“I have an idea” William said enthusiastically.  
“Sure, take a shot” Brian replied.

“How about we camp outside today?”

Brian and Terrence looked at each other. 

They seemed to know by experience that such idea wouldn’t end up going as planned.

“No good?” William responded once noticing their wordless reply.  
“Nope. We’ve done that before and trust me, better to stay inside.”  
Terrence replied to William’s suggestion.

Brian elaborated on Terrence’s statement; 

“Critters’ll eat you up bit by bit, the temperature will drop and so might rain. You might wake up with bugs on you or with your food rotten, racoons might raid the house or even worse, cockroaches may lay eggs around the house. All I said is by experience. The last one was the worst and was fairly recent.”  
William remained silent as he evaluated both their claims. But, as good an answer those claims were, William wanted to camp out more than anything. 

. . .

Well not anything but fairly a lot. 

“How about you go prepare the security measures and I’ll handle the food department, I can make smores.” He suggested.  
Reluctantly, both Terrence and Brian agreed, seeing as Will wouldn’t have it any other way. 

They both prepared to go buy some supplies for the night and left a few minutes later.  
William went inside and opened his backpacks. Seconds after, he pulled out some ingredients to make some s’mores. He made his first pair when some leaves crinkled in the distance.

Startled, he locked the doors and closed all the windows, with the exception of one through which he could see who or what was approaching.

He acted as if he were still making s’mores as he kept an eye out the window.

The bushes on the outer ring moved and a figure came out, walking slowly and sleepily.  
“Who are you?” William asked, masking his voice.

“Is Terrence home?” the figure replied.

William wondered how the enigma knew Terrence’s name. It could be a trap so he took it the safe side.

“Never heard of it” he replied.

“He lives here; who are you?” the figure questioned.

“Leave” William commanded. 

The figure seemed to be indifferent.  
“Tell Terrence to meet me; he knows where” the figure replied.

But before William could deny knowing Terrence, the figure once more hid under the bushes and went out of sight.  
William was now very puzzled; but he seemed to have decided to ignore the issue as he continued making s’mores. 

Pretty soon leaves truffled once more, this time two familiar figures walking through the vegetation.

Brian and Terrence had returned and he was barely halfway done with the snacks.

William felt a strong pressure all of the sudden, as if he was being evaluated on a cooking show, and he was a guest.  
For reasons unknown to him at the moment, the sudden pangs of metal scratching soil was all but painless.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in; breath out.

He let in a long gasp of breath before exhaling softly.  
Whilst William was panick- preparing the snacks, Brian and Terrence were setting up the tents that they had bought.

“Steady, steady, keep it steady” Brian said whilst Terrence lowered the poles of the tent.

“For how long do I need to keep this steady?” Terrence groaned.  
“Long enough that I can make sure it wont fall down once its placed in the hole” Brian replied.

“Aren’t you supposed to hammer it down?” Terrence said while doing a high amount of effort.

“But that takes a lot of effort and. . .” Brian trailed off and sighed before waving the thumbs up to Terrence.

The air splintered as the booming sound of metal scraping soil hit again.  
Terrence grabbed the tent by its poles and pulled it to test its sturdiness. 

After realizing it was very sturdy, he opened the zipper and laid flat on the floor for a few seconds, before pushing himself upwards with his hands and organizing the pillows and blankets.

Brian came inside the tent, leaving it unzipped. It was fairly big on the inside, more so than they were accustomed to. 

Brian had bought two tents because he thought one wouldn’t be enough, despite Terrence’s claims that they were ‘Extra X-cess X Large’.  
Brian laid his head on the soft, comfy pillow. 

Terrence however felt uncomfortable sleeping with pillows. 

It was part of the enigma that he was. 

The kid claimed that pillows were uncomfortable, that he felt that they would swallow his head due to the ‘unnerving’ sinking of his head.

He was quite the puzzle to solve.

Awkwardness increasing quickly, Terrence was the one to speak up after the empty minutes of silence.  
“So, you want to know about me.” He said, unsure how he should react.

“Call me skeptical, but you have a lot of loose threads”

Terrence sighed.

“I used to live with my family. It was quite peaceful. Eventually stuff happened and I had to leave.”

Brian gave Terrence a stern look. 

“You cant be vague. You need to open up more.”

Terrence couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Ok. Re-do. I used to live with my family for a long time. We lived in a small hotel and my dad owned it. After a while I was faced with. . .

a choice. So I-“  
Brian slapped his forehead. But before he could speak up, Terrence interrupted.

“So I left my family and went far away. Eventually I got here.” Terrence sighed.

“What about your book?” Brian asked.

“My sister gave it to me. Hope ya’r satisfied.” The last bit seemed like more of a menace than a complaint, but Brian ignored it.  
Brian, acting like a detective more than anything at the moment, tried to sink everything in.

He remembered his incident at the morning. Perhaps Terrence should also know about that.

“So uh you remember this morning? Well I had an incident.” Brian said.  
He continued;

“There was some sort of aura or something because temperatures were, like; low low. And I’m still very puzzled about what happened. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you because; well in all honesty I didn’t know how you’d react.” 

He let out a deep sigh, the deepest in a long time.  
Their silence was interrupted by the calling of William from inside. 

They got out of the humongous tent and entered the tree house. William had made two dozens of three types of s’mores. 

One dozen had a few raisins and another dozen had two layers of marshmallows.

Before Brian could say thanks, Terrence snagged and quickly gobbled a pair of s’mores.  
William grabbed the trays and brought them downstairs while Terrence started a little campfire, a safe 12 feet away from any flammable objects.

A few minutes later, they were eating s’mores and chatting around the warmth of the fire.  
Terrence, snatching s’mores from the trays, asked William;

“So uh, William; what brings you here?” he asked, focused on the food.

“Am a traveler ‘round here y’ know. I heard Brian say something about an aura of coldness?”

“Yeah it was an aura in the morning. Or at least I think so. Can’t be sure.” Brian responded the question.

“Can I trust you with something?” William asked, waiting for an answer.

Terrence nodded quickly, not really noticing what William was saying.  
“I came here to this city in hopes of finding that aura you have. There’s probably more, but I’m not sure you’d understand in all honesty. Eventually you reach a point where your trust is so abused, it is nonexistent.”

“Let’s drop the auras for now” Terrence said absently minded.

He snatched another pair of s’mores before Brian pushed the tray away from him.  
The night sky darkened more, and soon they were all but talking.

The rest of the night was small talk and stargazing. Terrence nor Brian had done any of this in a while. It was refreshing.

. . .

Matthew trots down the streets, gasping continuously for breath as he slows his pace. 

He looked at the night sky, calmly observing the vast void that is space as a flash of light on the horizon snatches his attention. 

Matthew, now directing his view towards the flash, realizes that lightning struck where there were no clouds.  
* The second one.*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was VERY fun to work with.
> 
> It unveils the first interaction between the current tree house characters.
> 
> The first half focuses on development and the second on foreshadowing for the next chapter.
> 
> My favorite part was when the three (Brian, Terrence and William) interact with each other in the second half.
> 
> Special Thanks to Ninja EleMental b.k.a. (better known as) DarkWo1f in Ao3.


End file.
